We use to ski at Sierra Summit near Huntington Lake out of Fresno, CA. It was once and is again called China Peak, after the highest point on the resort. At the time they had a bunch of these cheesy info signs on the (fixed grip)  lift towers like:

It can be sunny in the mountains when it’s cloudy in the valley!

and

Man made snow is real snow, it’s just mand made!

We always thought that was pretty funny to the point that we, my sisters and I, to this day spout that out at the least provocation. It’s just so obvious!

I mention this of course because man made snow is now the dominant force in Tahoe Skiing. Heavenly, Northstar and some others have been open for a few weeks hauling skiers and riders up for rip up the man made corduroy. Friday Mt. Rose is opening up a ribbon of anthropogenic crystal from top to bottom. Just the Northwest trail to Kit Carson. Unless a fad bastard dump comes through, The Chutes will not be open.

NowI don’t get that excited about man made snow, not cause it’s not fun skiing, it is, but because it traps all the skiers in the run and doesn’t give you and fun of trail stuff. Still, skiing is skiing. So I’ll shred Friday @ Rose.

Maybe we could do a biathlon on Saturday and shred Rose, then do the Dry Pond Loop on the way home!

-M

-M

The warmest weather in half a century means that many European ski resorts are without snow later in the year than any time in recent memory. Some, dedicated skiers are turning to rocks to get their fix.

via VIDEO: Snow missing from European mountains, so skiers hit the rocks | PRI.ORG.

Finally, we have both a skier and a concept that can update the James Bond classic ski chase sceen between Telly Savalas’ Goons and Geore Lazonby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. This is Skier JP Auclair doing some street skiing in Sherpas Cinema’s new film All.ICan.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a really cool video. But it’s missing something. That something is the bad guys. I’m of a mind that there’s no point in skiing down stairs, roofs, ASPHAULT unless someone is chasing you. While JP does it with sick style and aplomb, I just can’t get behind the idea of skiing on shitty snow, and NON-snow surfaces. This is what bicycles are for.

What do you think? Want to see JP double for Daniel Craig in the remake of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service? I, for one, do.

-M

I have Klout, so I got some $10 discount codes to share for Liftopia. You may be wondering, What the fuck is Klout? Well I can tell you: It’s not important. What is important is skiing (should it ever snow enough to ski real snow).

To get the discount, the first three people to CLICK HERE and purchase a ticket get the discount. So have at it.

-M

Summer is over bitches. I hope you got on the rim trail before it was too late.

Mt. Rose got snow:

And there’s more on the way:

“It does look like there is another wave forming off the coast that will push through later today. That could bring another burst of steady snow.” -Tahoe Weather Discussion

-M

If you’re in Colorado in June, We recommend this fine event at Keystone!

Bacon – Pronunciation [bey-kuhn] – the back and sides of the hog, salted, and dried or smoked, usually sliced thin and fried for food. New to Keystone for summer 2011, this festival is sure to turn some heads. Whether you’re a bacon enthusiast or the loved one of a bacon connoisseur this event is for you. With thousands of pounds of bacon and bacon inspired cuisine at your finger tips you won’t want to miss this weekend long celebration of bacon.

Raw Footage – edit to follow from Jeff Wyshynski on Vimeo.

Raw Footage – edit to follow from Jeff Wyshynski on Vimeo.

A Tiny Day in the Jackson Hole Backcountry on Vimeo on Vimeo

via A Tiny Day in the Jackson Hole Backcountry on Vimeo.

This is why I don’t ski switch. -M

Ager Stefan Stubai drop PTTP on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Ager Stefan Stubai drop PTTP on Vimeo.

Some wacky shit hitting the slopes…

DPS Spoon Ski

“The Spoon is a revolutionary new design that moves deep snow skiing into the future. In 2007, DPS’ Stephan Drake started looking for ways to increase ski angle to encourage lift for more dynamic, stylistic carves and slides in deep snow. Deeply convex bases became the focus. However, the inherent problem with base convexity is that a ski becomes dangerous in harder snow and sketchy entrances due to the obvious lack of edge grip. Enter DPS’ patent pending Cleat Technology: a 3-D downward vertical undulation in the edge combined with a convex base. Cleat Tech endows a spoon shaped ski with useable edge at low ski angles for hard snow. At the same time Cleat Tech doesn’t compromise the ski’s flex pattern, or the convex bases’ dramatic performance gains in deep snow.”

via DPS Spoon 150 with Cleat Technology a four dismension ski |.

Salomon BBR Ski

BBR is unlike any ski ever made. The patented “V” shape redefines skiing on all types of snow. An oversized tip and rocker shape enable it to float in powder and adapt to uneven terrain smoothly and predictably. With a narrow waist and pintail, a short radius and short effective edge on-piste, BBR provides great carving and outstanding edge grip on harder snow. The result is an incredibly playful ski, with great performance in any situation.

Salomon BBR Ski